"Be still and Know that I am God"

Hi Friends, I saw this interesting article by Jason Jackson and thought I share it with you.see more on the link provided.Regards and God Bless.


“If you were running for your life, would it matter?” That was General Odum’s motto; he learned to put everyday problems into perspective, weighing them against his World War II experiences. Captured by Rommel’s infamous Afrika Korps, Odum later escaped when the German plane transporting him and other prisoners of war was shot down by Allied Forces over France. After a month of hiding and dodging Nazis, the skin-and-bones Odum finally met up with friendly troops. He learned what few things really matter when you’re running for your life.

Where do you run to when you need a safe place to hide? I’ve never had to hide like General (this was his name, not his rank); most of us haven’t. But whether we realize it or not, a greater threat is here. Life in the flesh is a perilous time, because greater than any physical danger is the demoralizing presence of our adversary, the devil. Remember Peter’s warning: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). [All Scripture references are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.]

In addition to the sin-danger with which men flirt to the point of madness, one’s world can fall apart instantly. The English poet Alfred Tennyson felt the common plight when he wrote, “Never morning wore to evening, but some heart did not break.” If your world falls apart, to whom shall you go? As the steady North Star provides orientation in darkness, so the forty-sixth Psalm is higher ground for the worn soul seeking refuge.
The Psalm Introduced

Psalm 46 divides into three sections as indicated by the contemplative selah after each group of verses. In the first section (vv. 1-3), there is an opening declaration that God is our refuge and strength; therefore, the Lord’s people need not fear even in the bleakest of circumstances, illustrated by a crumbling earth and turbulent sea that surrounds and threatens God’s people. In the second part (vv. 4-7), the city of God is the calm in the storm. The nations surge, hostilities rage, but the voice of Jehovah subdues them.

The refrain expresses the rationale for hope when there is none: “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v. 7). The last part (vv. 8-11) invites the people of God to consider God’s past interventions in the affairs of men as solid evidence of his abiding presence, again concluding with the encouraging affirmation, “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (v. 11). He marshals the armies (i.e., “hosts”) of heaven to do his bidding; he is the true God who involved himself in Jacob’s life, providing gracious blessings and protection to the fulfillment of his promises. Thus, he is the God who is willing to use his power on behalf of his people to fulfill the gracious promises that he has made. He is with us!
The Psalm Investigated

If you love Psalm 23, you’ll love Psalm 46. J. Clinton McCann Jr. noted the similarities between these psalms—a soul-stirring thread—when he wrote: “Like Psalm 23, the fundamental affirmation of Psalm 46 is the assurance of God’s presence” (1993, 136). How we cherish the knowledge of his presence; many of our hymns reflect the treasured thought, “God with us” (“A Wonderful Savior,” “A Mighty Fortress,” “Rock of Ages,” etc.).

The reader should understand much of the Old Testament language and background of this psalm, and an extensive line-by-line consideration of such will have to remain unexplored in this present study. Such a neglect here does not reflect a lack of appreciation for the general historical context and rich Hebrew poetry that characterizes this psalm. However, this ancient poem, given and preserved by God, fittingly describes issues that transcend the dispensations and are relevant to men of every age. This study will focus upon such matters. Just as the prophet announced for God, “For I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6, ASV), we realize that the God of Jacob is with us—Christians. Rather than alter our view on Psalm 46, the New Testament enhances our appreciation of the vivid truths revealed in this great psalm.
Our Confidence

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (v. 1, ASV). He, and he alone, is the ultimate security. He is exceedingly ready and available for us in trouble—in practice, not in mere theory. Paul motivated Christians to pursue heavenly things: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). There is no other place like it; nothing comes close. Trouble will find you, so flee to the fortress of souls.

Since God is the one to whom we can flee—who protects us without and strengthens us within—we will not fear. The defiance of faith in uncertainty and peril is justified, because God is with us: “Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be shaken into the heart of the seas; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains tremble with the swelling thereof” (vv. 2-3, ASV).

Observe the words “change,” “shaken,” “roar,” “troubled,” and “tremble.” The situation is desperate since the earth appears to be on the brink of destruction. The figures describe the worst-case scenario; the most dreaded thing is happening. Even if the world should crumble beneath our feet, we will not wonder: “Has God forsaken us?” In fact, we will not fear; he is with us. The psalm admits that the Lord’s own are not immune from trouble (cf. Hebrews 5:8-9). We live in an unstable world, an environment hazarded by sin’s curse. He sustains us in the midst of trouble, and that is what a person needs to know as he lives with a view toward better days.
Our Calmness

Abruptly, a surreal tranquility is painted by words of calmness and confidence: “There is a river, the streams wherefore make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High” (v. 4, ASV). In contrast to the chaos, there is the calm, pure river, which is the source from which the streams (i.e., canals) irrigate, bring life, and add beauty in the very city of God—the place of his tabernacles (note the plural “dwelling places”). His presence is like the river—life-giving and sustaining. Naturally, since he is the Most High (cf. 97:9).

Those who reside in God’s city (i.e., in a covenant, saved relationship with God) are blessed because he is there: “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God will help her, and that right early” (v. 5). Or to express the thought in another way, “No water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.”

Unparalleled stability results from the abiding presence of God. Therefore, gladness characterizes God’s city, even though nations topple around her because of foreign aggression. If she trusts in him, if she is faithful to him, she shall not be moved. What can he do? “He uttered his voice, the earth melted” (v. 6).

The psalmist’s confidence may stem from recent manifestations of God’s awesome presence and intervention. A. F. Kirkpatrick was convinced that Psalm 46 celebrates the delivery of Jerusalem when 185,000 Assyrian corpses littered the environs of Jerusalem—thanks to the Angel of Jehovah. He wrote, “The miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the army of Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah (B.C. 701) may be assigned as the occasion of these Psalms [i.e., 46, 47, 48], with a probability which approaches certainty” (1906, 253).

Albert Barnes appeared equally convinced, but less emphatic (1950, 40). In actuality, the Bible relates many interventions of the Lord on behalf of his people, including 2 Kings 19. These “intrusions” reveal that the true and living God has made his presence felt for his people; accordingly, the point that he is not far from us has been substantiated on numerous occasions since the beginning of time (cf. Acts 17:27-28; Romans 15:1-5). We may not know with certainty the immediate circumstances behind this psalm, but we do know, “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
Our Conviction

Psalm 46 not only affirms the reality of God’s presence, it also invites men to behold the evidence: “Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations he hath made in the earth” (v. 8). He has broken the weapons of war; he rules in the kingdoms of men. The plagues of Egypt, the walls of Jericho, the victories of Gideon, the defeat of Goliath, the fiery furnace, Daniel’s lions, and scores of other divine manifestations are a testimony to the fact that God, who does not change, has the same concern for us today as he had for his children of former days.

Our most important consideration, however, is not our skin—it’s our soul. More important than our biological life is our spiritual life (cf. Matthew 10:28). This world is not all there is nor all that matters. When sin takes hold of us, or circumstances overwhelm us, it is God to whom we must flee. Run to him in your heart and mind—what you know of God, heaven, eternity, and judgment. Hope will sustain you in the darkest hour.
The Psalm Incorporated

If we adopt the thinking of Psalm 46, should we expect a miraculous deliverance from trouble? No. First, God does not need to work a miracle to help us in trouble. Second, the miracles of the past continue to teach us (cf. John 20:30-31); their repetition is unnecessary for the accomplishment of his will. Trust in him, believe in him, for the Lord has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Do you believe him?

You also must “come, behold the works of the Lord” (v. 8). Come, behold the baby of a virgin; come, behold the daughter of Jairus; come to the tomb of Lazarus; come to Gethsemane; come, behold the crown of thorns; behold the empty tomb. Jesus Christ has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6).

Isn’t that what we want to know? That if the world falls apart, if the unthinkable happens, in the end we’ll be saved? Paul, in a Psalm 46 frame of mind, says also, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32). Significantly, neither the psalmist nor Paul were students of Campbell, Stone, or McGarvey; but, contrary to the voices of change that necessary inference is a modern invention, both inspired writers invite us to draw necessary inferences about God’s love and presence in our lives based on what God has done in the past.

Thus, calm confidence should adorn God’s people—no matter what. “Be still, and know that I am God” (v. 10, ASV). God’s people are commanded to “be still.” The imperative gives a solemn duty to those in a covenant relationship with God (cf. Galatians 3:26-29). The duty represents a spiritual disposition that ought to characterize those to whom God’s unfailing promises have been given. “Be still” considers that we are finite and that God is infinite. That being the case, we need to drop our hands, go limp, relax, and “chill out.” This spiritual calm that God commands does not come from a lack of troubles; it derives from a steady, deep reflection on the ways God has intervened in history on behalf of his people (cf. Romans 15:4).

God’s past provides calm for our future. He is the ruler of kingdoms of this earth and the all-powerful Creator of the universe. We may be pressed, perplexed, and pursued, but not unto despair (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9). If you are the last man or woman standing, be still, stand fast, be strong. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth do change” (vv. 1-2).
Sources/Footnotes

* Barnes, Albert. 1950. Notes on the Old Testament: Explanatory and Practical. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
*
* Kirkpatrick, A. F. 1906. The Book of Psalms. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
*
* McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. 1993. A Theological Introduction to the Book of Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

GOD MOMENT

I have been blessed and privileged to learn of the concept of “God moment” .This is the word that I have given to the phenomenon of the ever present God and Godliness in every moment of every time called Now in my life. Let me explain. It is the idea that “God is in the details”. The bottom-line. The All –in-All. God is actually in my waking up, In my morning prayer, In eating of my breakfast, in the choosing and wearing of my clothes, in my boarding of the matatu in the morning, in reading of my favorite magazine, my chatting of friends at work, in the lunch hour break and in choosing what I am planning to eat, In the thought of entertaining the afternoon siesta, in rushing home to avoid the jam..You get drift. God is in everything and everywhere. In other words, God ,in his divine foreknowledge, perceives your every thought, word and action and He is there when you are in your present in that thought, word and action and in the after. That why He describes Himself as the I AM. The Always and Ever Self-Existing God…and here’s the good part and my point exactly, THROUGH US.I really hope you are following this .For God to be God experientially, He waits on us to be in us so as we can be God on this earth and present in this life .WOW!!! I am just as excited about this now as I was 3 days ago when I came to “know” i.e. to be aware of it. Here was my predicament: - I always thought of God being up there in Heaven. And me here on earth. And in the true sense, it is actually that way; Talk of Divine Dichotomy. But the “God moment” applies thus, when I am “AWAKE” (emphasis added) to my NOW and become consciously aware of God’s foreknowledge of this “moment” I am calling Now, I have no option but be in this moment as it is the Will of God for me now. Get It? Please God, Help me put this clearly. Look here dear one, you reading this; God is the one writing this words to you, ofcourse through me and He is the one causing you to read this and making you understand. Thus, we are in the will of God. Let me say this now, “it is easier said than done”. So it will be hard at times trying to consciously “be in the moment “ but when you are, all frustrations will subside. Trust Me!!! So just Be and comprehend the Majesty and the Awesomeness of God and life. So to say in a nutshell- Try BEing “Present” in every moment you have as “Now” and by that I mean, “Releasing and Giving up of yourself to God” in mind and body and spirit and see what happens. That is why we are called Human Beings and not Human Doings. NOTE: - I am referring to the TRUE GOD. Who is Spirit in nature and who is worshipped in Spirit and Truth. The Great I AM. God the Father, Whose son, Jesus Christ died for my sins and I am now a partaker of eternal life. That is the God I am referring to. So I am always aware of God being here and now and not only when I am praying or going to church or sharing Him when I am with my pals. He is always there; All ways! And personally I believe this is how Jesus Christ was Consciously while He was on this earth. That why He could say in John 5:19 in reference to his accusation by the Jews as to why he was healing on the Sabbath. “…I tell you the truth, The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father(GOD) doing, because whatever the Father does the son also does” So since we are the sons of God in Jesus Christ, We can do also the same. Be what God want you to BE at this particular moment. Always and in every moment. So go ahead and heal someone, Bless someone, Be rich, Be happy, Be that which God wants you to be NOW! For Now is the Time for Salvation! God Bless You.

SUCCESS 101 - Quotes from "16 laws of success" - Napoloen Hill

The most successful men and women on earth have had to correct certain weak spots in their personalities before they began to succeed. The most outstanding of these weaknesses which stand between men and women and success are INTOLERANCE, CUPIDITY, GREED, JEALOUSY, SUSPICION, REVENGE, EGOTISM, CONCEIT, THE TENDENCY TO REAP WHERE THEY HAVE NOT SOWN, and the HABIT OF SPENDING MORE THAN THEY EARN.


"Master Mind," - meaning - a mind that is developed through the harmonious co-operation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task.

If you are engaged in the business of selling you may profitably experiment with this law of the "Master Mind" in your daily work. It has been found that a group of six or seven salespeople may use the law so effectively that their sales may be increased tounbelievableproportions.

NO MAN HAS A CHANCE TO ENJOY PERMANENT SUCCESS UNTIL HE BEGINS TO LOOK IN A MIRROR FOR THE REAL CAUSE OF ALL HIS MISTAKES.
- Napoleon Hill


In any of the great cities of the United States one may purchase merchandise of similar nature and price in scores of stores, yet you will find there is always one outstanding store which does more business than any of the others, and the reason for this is that back of that store is a man, or men, who has attended to the personalities of those who come in contact with the public. People buy personalities as much as merchandise, and it is a question if they are not influenced more by the personalities with which they come in contact than they are by the merchandise.


Success, is "the attainment of your Definite Chief Aim without violating the rights of other people."

Regardless of what your major aim in life may be, you will attain it with much less difficulty after you learn how to cultivate a pleasing personality and after you have learned the delicate art of allying yourself with others in a given undertaking without friction or envy.

One of the greatest problems of life, if not, in fact, the greatest, is that of learning the art of harmonious negotiation with others.

You cannot enjoy outstanding success in life without power, and you can never enjoy power without sufficient personality to influence other people to cooperate with you in a spirit of harmony.


Your definite chief aim in life should be selected with deliberate care, and after it has been selected it should be written out and placed where you will see it at least once a day, the psychological effect of which is to impress this purpose upon your subconscious mind so strongly that it accepts that purpose as a pattern or blueprint that will eventually dominate your activities in life and lead you, step by step, toward the attainment of the object back of that purpose.

The principle of psychology through which you can impress your definite chief aim upon your subconscious mind is called Auto-suggestion, or suggestion which you repeatedly make to yourself.


Be sure that your definite purpose is constructive; that its attainment will bring hardship and misery to no one; that it will bring you peace and prosperity, then apply, to the limit of your understanding, the principle of self-suggestion for the speedy attainment of this purpose.


The subconscious mind may be likened to a magnet, and when it has been vitalized and thoroughly saturated with any definite purpose it has a decided tendency to attract all that is necessary for the fulfillment of that purpose. Like attracts like, and you may see evidence of this law in every blade of grass and every growing tree. The acorn attracts from the soil and the air the necessary materials out of which to grow an oak tree. It never grows a tree that is part oak and part poplar. Every grain of wheat that is planted in the soil attracts the materials out of which to grow a stalk of wheat. It never makes a mistake and grows both oats and wheat on the same stalk. And men are subject, also, to this same Law of Attraction.

All of which leads up to this statement:
That you will attract to you people who harmonize with your own philosophy of life, whether you wish it or not.

It is your privilege - nay, your DUTY, to aim high in life. You owe it to yourself and to the community in which you live to set a high standard for yourself.

There is much evidence to justify the belief that nothing within reason is beyond the possibility of attainment by the man whose definite chief aim has been well developed.

No undesirable environment is strong enough to hold the man or woman who understands how to apply the principle of Auto-suggestion in the creation of a definite chief aim. Such a person can throw off the shackles of poverty; destroy the most deadly disease germs; rise from a lowly station in life to power and plenty.

All great leaders base their leadership upon a definite chief aim. Followers are willing followers when they know that their leader is a person with a definite chief aim who has the courage to back up that purpose with action. Even a balky horse knows when a driver with a definite chief aim takes hold of the reins; and yields to that driver. When a man with a definite chief aim starts through a crowd everybody stands aside and makes a way for him, but let a man hesitate and show by his actions that he is not sure which way he wants to go and the crowd will step all over his toes and refuse to budge an inch out of his way.

any idea you firmly fix in your subconscious mind, by repeated affirmation, automatically becomes a plan or blueprint which an unseen power uses in directing your efforts toward the attainment of the objective named - in the plan.
You have also learned that the principle through which you may fix any idea you choose in your mind is called Auto-suggestion, which simply means a suggestion that you give to your own mind.
You might well remember that Nothing can bring you success but yourself.


No one is going to pay much attention to the person who has no confidence in himself.
He does not attract others because his mind is a negative force that repels rather than attracts.

SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First: I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose, therefore I demand of myself persistent, aggressive and continuous action toward its attainment.
Second: I realize that the dominating thoughts of my mind eventually reproduce themselves in outward, bodily action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore I will concentrate My mind for thirty minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to be, by creating a mental picture of this person and then transforming that picture into reality through practical service.

Third: I know that through the principle of Auto-suggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of realizing it, therefore I shall devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of the factors named in the sixteen lessons of this Reading Course on the Law of Success.

Fourth: I have clearly mapped out and written down a description of my definite purpose in life, for the coming five years. I have set a price on my services for each of these five years; a price that I intend to earn and receive, through strict application of the principle of efficient, satisfactory service which I will render in advance.

Fifth: I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice, therefore I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. 1 will succeed by attracting to me the forces I wish to use, and the co-operation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because I will first serve them. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and in myself.


I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day with full faith that it will gradually influence my entire life so that I will become a successful and happy worker in my chosen field of endeavor.
Signed……………………………………….



Before you sign your name to this formula make sure that you intend to carry out its instructions. Back of this formula lies a law that no man can explain. The psychologists refer to this law as Auto-suggestion and let it go at that, but you should bear in mind one point about which there is no uncertainty, and that is the fact that whatever this law is it actually works! Another point to be kept in mind is the fact that, just as electricity will turn the wheels of industry and serve mankind in a million other ways, or snuff out life if wrongly applied, so will this principle of Auto-suggestion lead you up the mountain-side of peace and prosperity, or down into the valley of misery and poverty, according to the application you make of it. If you fill your mind with doubt and unbelief in your ability to achieve, then the principle of Auto-suggestion takes this spirit of unbelief and sets it up in your subconscious mind as your dominating thought and slowly but surely draws you into the whirlpool of failure. But, if you fill your mind with radiant Self-confidence, the principle of Auto-suggestion takes this belief and sets it up as your dominating thought and helps you master the obstacles that fall in your way until you reach the mountain-top of success.
We are the victims of our habits, no matter who we are or what may be our life-calling. Any idea that is deliberately fixed in the mind, or any idea that is permitted to set itself up in the mind, as the result of suggestion, environment, the influence of associates, etc., is sure to cause us to indulge in acts which conform to the nature of the idea.
Form the habit of thinking and talking of prosperity and abundance, and very soon material evidence of these will begin to manifest itself in the nature of wider opportunity and new and unexpected opportunity.

YOU are a human magnet and you are constantly attracting to you people whose characters harmonize with your own.


Debt is a merciless master, a fatal enemy of the savings habit.

Poverty, alone, is sufficient to kill off ambition, destroy self-confidence and destroy hope, but add to it the burden of debt and all who are victims of these two cruel task-masters are practically doomed to failure.

No man can do his best work, no man can express himself in terms that command respect, no man can either create or carry out a definite purpose in life, with heavy debt hanging over his head. The man who is bound in the slavery of debt is just as helpless as the slave who is bound by ignorance, or by actual chains.
It is a terrible thing even to think of going through life like a prisoner in chains, bound down and owned by somebody else on account of debts. The accumulation of debts is a habit. It starts in a small way and grows to enormous proportions slowly, step by step, until finally it takes charge of one's very soul.

The Fear of Poverty is one of the most destructive of the six basic fears. The man who becomes hopelessly in debt is seized with this poverty fear, his ambition and self-confidence become paralyzed, and he sinks gradually into oblivion.


No sacrifice is too great to avoid the misery of debt!
"Think of what you owe yourself and those who are dependent upon you and resolve to be no man's debtor,"


There are two classes of debts, and these are so different in nature that they deserve to be here described, as follows:

1. There are debts incurred for luxuries which become a dead loss.
2. There are debts incurred in the course of professional or business trading which represent service or merchandise that can be converted back into assets.

The first class of debts is the one to be avoided. The second class may be indulged in, providing the one incurring the debts uses judgment and does not go beyond the bounds of reasonable limitation. The moment one buys beyond his limitations he enters the realm of speculation, and speculation swallows more of its victims than it enriches.

The slavery of debt causes more suicides every year than all other causes combined, which is a slight indication of the cruelty of the poverty fear.



WHO told you it couldn't be done? and, what great achievement has he to his credit that entitles him to use the word "impossible" so freely?

HOW TO MASTER THE FEAR OF POVERTY

To whip the Fear of Poverty one must take two very definite steps, providing one is in debt. First, quit the habit of buying on credit, and follow this by gradually paying off the debts that you have already incurred.

Being free from the worry of indebtedness you are ready to revamp the habits of your mind and re-direct your course toward prosperity. Adopt, as a part of your Definite Chief Aim, the habit of saving a regular proportion of your income, even if this be no more than a penny a day. Very soon this habit will begin to lay hold of your mind and you will actually get joy out of saving.

Any habit may be discontinued by building in its place some other and more desirable habit. The "spending" habit must be replaced by the "saving" habit by all who attain financial independence.

Merely to discontinue an undesirable habit is not enough, as such habits have a tendency to reappear unless the place they formerly occupied in the mind is filled by some other habit of a different nature. The discontinuance of a habit leaves a "hole" in the mind, and this hole must be filled up with some other form of habit or the old one will return and claim its place.

The accumulation of money is not difficult after you have once mastered the Fear of Poverty and developed in its place the Habit of Saving.

Thomas A. Edison is one of the best known and most respected inventors in the world, yet it is no misstatement of facts to say that he would have remained a practically unknown, obscure personage had he not followed the habit of conserving his resources and shown his ability to save money.

Henry Ford never would have got to first base with his "horseless carriage" had he not developed, quite early in life, the habit of saving. Moreover, had Mr. Ford not conserved his resources and hedged himself behind their power he would have been "swallowed up" by his competitors or those who covetously desired to take his business away from him, long, long years ago.

Many a man has gone a very long way toward success, only to stumble and fall, never again to rise, because of lack of money in times of emergency. The mortality rate in business each year, due to lack of reserve capital for emergencies, is stupendous. To this one cause are due more of the business failures than to all other causes combined!

Reserve Funds are essential in the successful operation of business! Likewise, Savings Accounts are essential to success on the part of individuals. Without a savings fund the individual suffers in two ways: first, by inability to seize opportunities that come only to the person with some ready cash, and, second, by embarrassment due to some unexpected emergency calling for cash

Scientific Proof that the Bible is True!

The Holy Bible contains scientific information that was not known by man at the time of writing! In many cases it was only discovered recently. Let us break them down now:

Please allow me to start with this statement that the The True Holy Bible (mark my words please because there are many books around claiming to be “True Bibles”!) contains no scientific errors in its 66 books! Amazing! I know you may be asking yourself, why, and how does he know that! Well, don’t get ahead of me now, am about to prove to you all these. Just move with me…..
Whenever the Bible makes a scientific statement, it is always proven correct after man has discovered all the relevant facts. In the Library of the Louvre in Paris there are 3.5 miles of obsolete science books on the shelves. In 1861 the French Academy of Science published a list of 51 "scientific facts" which supposedly “contradicted the Bible”. Today all 51 of these "facts" are unacceptable to modern scientists!! Intereting indeed!!
The Holy Bible contains scientific information that was not known by man at the time of writing! In many cases it was only discovered recently. At this stage the question that might be lingering in your mind is: How did the Bible possess knowledge not yet discovered by man? Well, the one and only answer stands to be God authored the Bible, and revealed information not yet known to man, so that the world would know that the Bible is God's Word, coming from a mind much greater than man's.
Having mentioned all these, then what examples of scientific facts revealed in the Bible, were unknown to man at the time of writing? Am glad you asked. Let us break them down now:
1. The Earth Hangs in Space.
"He hangs the earth upon nothing." Job 26:7 stated 1500BC.
2. Earth at any time is part day-time and part night.
When the moment of Christ's second coming to earth is discussed in Luke 17:31-36, Christ's return interrupts people sleeping at night on one part of the earth, and interrupts others in the daytime grinding at the mill or working in the field. How did Jesus Christ know that the earth at any point of time is half dark and half light? Because He is the all-knowing God
3. Cloud Balancing.
"Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds?" Job 37:16.
Clouds are floating in the air, balanced by two forces: gravity pulling them downwards, and
warm air pushing them upwards. How did Job know about this in 1500 BC? God told him.
4. Telephone Communication.
"Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, here we are?" Job 38:35.
When we dial a telephone number, an electric current (lightning or electricity as we know it) moves through a wire to our friend's telephone, which rings a bell. The telephone works exactly as Job, yet man did not invent it until 1876. God revealed the telephone to Job in 1520BC, 3400 years before AG Bell invented it.
5. Very Great Number of Stars.
"As the host of heaven cannot be numbered." Jeremiah 33:22 in 590 BC.
"He (God) telleth the number of stars; he calleth them all by their names." Psalm 147:4.
Ptolemy in 150AD dogmatically said that 1056 stars existed. Scientists now estimate that there are around 1011 x 1011 stars, and this is only a guess since are still being discovered.
6. The Height of Stars.

"Behold the height of the stars, how high they are." Job 22:12.

Man did not realize how high and far the stars are until Bessel in 1838 measured the distances of stars using the parallax method. Alpha Centauri, earth's nearest star is 4 x 1013 kms (40,000 billion kms) away. It would take you 10 million years to get there if you could travel there in your motorcar at 100 km per hour!

7. Pleiades Constellation is a Bound cluster , not breaking up.

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences (cluster) of Pleiades?" Job 38:31.
In 1520 BC, God said that the Pleiades star cluster is bound together in a highly stable group. Today using high-powered telescopes, this has been shown to be true. It is a bound cluster of about 500 stars, 50 light years across and 410 light years away from earth. Also, photographs reveal that some of it's stars are veiled in a faint transparent blue haze of gas and dust, which beautifully reflect the glory of the stars in the cluster with their various colours. The cluster is indeed "sweet" in colour as God said in Job 38:31. How did the Bible know these two details, which are not observable to the naked eye? The all-knowing God Who created the stars, authored the Bible.

8. Orion's Bands are loosed.

"Canst thou loose the bands of Orion?" Job 38:31

The constellation of Orion is a star system that is steadily expanding outwards. The gravitational “bands" holding the constellation together have indeed been loosed, just as God told Job. Orion is 350 light years across and 1600 light years from earth. This expansion is not observable to the naked eye. How could the Bible tell the difference between two star systems in 1600 BC? Well, by now I know for sure you can guess..



9. Spherical Earth.

“It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth." Isaiah 40:22.
"..when he set a compass upon the face of the depth. " Proverbs 8:27.

Circle 2329 = Compass 2329 in Hebrew is "Khoog" = to describe a circle, or circuit, meaning the horizon which is circular. In 712 BC, when Isaiah wrote this, people thought that the earth was flat, and that you could sail over the edge of it and fall off. Columbus and Magellan proved that the earth was circular by sailing around it in a circle from East to West and then returning to the point of departure!

10. Treasures of the Snow.

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?” Job 38:22.

Snow crystals are invisible to the naked eye, but under a microscope every snow crystal is different! No two snow crystals are the same! They are all beautiful 6-sided patterns, just like exquisite treasures.

11. The Bloodstream Carries Life.

"The life of the flesh is in the blood." Leviticus 17:11.

From 400 BC to 1900 AD, a procedure called "blood letting" was popular. Sick people had blood drained from their bloodstream as a supposed therapeutic measure. It was responsible for killing millions of people, such as George Washington. People thought that blood carried disease instead of life! By draining the blood, the patient died of blood loss. Now we give blood to some sick patients. The Bible was right again.

12. Fountains Under the Sea.

"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?" Job 38:16.
"When he strengthened the fountains of the deep." Proverbs 8:28.

There are at least 10,000 known underwater volcanoes, adding extra water to the oceans of 430 million tons each year!

13. The Water Cycle.

"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from where the rivers
come, there they return again." Ecclesiestes 1:7.

Rain falls on the coast, runs down the rivers into the oceans, evaporates into clouds, and is blown back to land. It then rains, thus repeating what is known as the water cycle.






14. The Sun is the Source of the Earth's Wind Systems.

"By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth?” Job 38:24.

Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the air around the earth by the sun . The sun also heats the surface of the earth unevenly. Air above hot areas (such as land) expands and rises. Air from cooler areas then flows in to take the place of heated air. This is called circulation.

15. Light can be Parted or Dispersed into a Rainbow Spectrum.

"By what way is the light parted " Job 38:24.

"Parted" in Hebrew is "chalaq ”
which means, "separated". White light can be separated into 7 colours of the spectrum which are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. This was not understood until experiments with light were performed in the 1600's.

16. Winds blow in Circuits

Ecclesiastes 1:6 “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.”

At the equator, the sun heats the air causing it to rise. In the upper atmosphere this air flows away from the equator. When the air returns to the earth's surface, it flows across the surface. This moving surface air produces the six belts of prevailing winds around the earth.

17. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that no new matter or energy is being created in the known universe; it is only being interconverted from one form to another!

"On the seventh day God ended his work which He had made." Genesis 2:2.

18. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the disorder of the universe is increasing. Systems are running from a high to a low state of energy. "They (the earth and heavens) all shall wax old as doth a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." (Hebrews 1:11,12.)

Scientists admit that with all the energy that the sun burns up, it must become cold one day in the distant future. The same must happen to all stars. This is called the "heat death of the universe." Without solar heat, life on earth could not exist.

CONCLUSION:

The True Holy Bible (mark my words please because there are many books around claiming to be “True Bibles”!) not only includes that which is scientifically correct, but it is The True Word of God, The TRUTH. Imagine this, that the ancient Egyptians believed that the world was hatched from a great cosmic egg which had wings!!! Without any shadow of a doubt I confidently conclude that the all-knowing Creator God authored the Bible. This is a powerful argument to warrant our complete confidence in the Bible's truth and reliability on every other issue of life.
So having read and understood all these dear reader, what is your opinion?

When God cries

He who made the will gave it to us , His precious sons and daughters , freely.
He who made us out of the abundance of His Love, gave us the breathe of life to manifest His Glory with His Free will.

When we were yet to be born, as infant spirits, He beheld us in the comforts of His Heavenly dwellings.
As one, then we divinely agreed to go into the world to become the physical expression of Him.
Being God, He gave us the liberty to choose to become Him on earth through the Holy Spirit within us.
Conversely, to fail to become this truth, the opposite would hold true and become a reality. i.e. We would choose to become who He is not and hence we would be who we are not by the denial of the Holy spirit in our lives; the guide of God in our hearts that our souls know very well.

With this foreknowledge, God understood we would not remember the “agreement” we had made once we become flesh and enter into the world and to this end, He sent His Only Son. To re-mind us who we were before we became. To bring us back into remembrance. “To re-member us” i.e. to attach us back to the original; In spirit as we dwell here on earth. Being God on earth in order to manifest His will, our will on earth, as it is in Heaven. And Jesus came and showed us the way and the truth and the life albeit at a very high cost. And so we re-membered. We became to Know again. We got “saved” from our unknowing and we became new creatures through this good news. The stuff of dreams, I tell you! That we were not ordinary people , but a Royalty. Kings and Queens in the Kingdom of God.

He who was. And Is , and Is to come, became man to makes us gods through the knowledge of His Spirit here on His earth. What a wonder!
And this is the truth! He even swore that He will never leave us nor forsake us until the end of time. We win!

But God cries…

When after everything He has said, He has done to us, He continues to speak silently into our hearts everyday, From sending us angels , from singing to us through His songs to woe us back, Lighting up the days and starring up the nights, faithfully beckoning the majesty of His beauty in every flower, river, mountain top, valley low, every animal, the birds of the air, the four seasons and even the rainbow. And if that is not enough , He died to see us through this remembrance that whoever believes may not perish but have everlasting life.

But with that free will ,we can deny Him and thus deny ourselves; who we are truly are and consciously choose who we are not. And continue making that decision every day. And the precious gift becomes a curse, in an instant!

So God cries…

He cries for us. But for each tear shed, His call to us becomes even louder.

©jazzkuria
23/01/10.

2010 spiritual resolution.

The new year is upon us and what a joy to behold. I have big ideas on what I plan to be, to do and to have. Amongst the most important ones is my relationship with God. Yes, This may sound cliché but honestly it isn’t. I have come to understand something deeper about Our Loving Father up there. I have been blessed with experiences that have ushered me to these truths and the little I can do in return is to work with unrelenting fervor to connect even more with God. To make it short and simple, I need to recognize God. Wow! I know, that sounds basic and ridiculous but wait and see. I do recognize God but in places and ways I have been trained to know how and in precise and specific people and places; a church, an elderly ,bearded man in white garments making prophetic statements, a gospel tv channel etc. But that is not enough for God is everywhere so we are told! And so I need to be made aware. Make me aware again.

To know that God is in the flowers in the field, the wind that lifts their fragrance up in the air, the rain that strikes our faces and the sun that caresses our skin. The birds that sings and the lion that roars majestically in the jungle ,The weird neighbor, the sulking boss and that beautiful woman seated in the bus-seat next to you.Everywhere!

you see,I presume we all know that God is always with us. Let Me put it this way. God is always there, in our life. All Ways. But we become much more conscious of His presence when we do these things; when we smile or love or sing or dance or write from our hearts. This is the highest version of Who HE IS, and when we are ex-pressing these qualities, we are expressing Him. I mean that literally. we are expressing God. That is, pushing HIM out. We are taking Him from the inside of us, where He always reside, and showing Him on the outside of us. And so, He seems to be “just showing up.” The truth is, God is always there, and we, you, me, are only in these moments aware of God. What a wonderful revelation I have come to know and that I even seek to “know again” even deeper! And so I am on this project; to consciously become aware of where GOD is. Now you can somehow understand what I am trying to get in here. To “recognize” God is to “know again” God. From “cognize” which means to “be aware” and so to “re-cognize” is “to be aware again” and as such to recognize God for me this year, I am working to know again God; consciously in me and out there .Its quite simple, I plan to know again the God I know! Aha! Awesome, isn’t it? By this , I have to be willing to see God where I find God and not only where I expect to find God. I have to see God in my bitter times and not only during my happy times. I have to be willing to see God even when I am low in spirit, Out of a job, ignored by friend, dumped by a loved one et al; really see God in these moments and not chose to imagine He has deserted me and that I need to find Him. Again, God is always with us and by our unconscious awareness we believe He is not. So My “knowing again” will involve a change of heart, a change of mind and a lot of courage. Faith!! Besides knowing and having a belief that God IS, I seek to “know again” that God IS and always IS about me and every part of my business. To see God where I find Him and find Him where I see Him!So Help Me God!


©jazzkuria


-article inspired by “Friendship with God” by neale d.walsch.


10.01.10

THE DON'TS IN MY LIFE

Don’t sit aside and look
With empty eyes and a castigating mind
Watching the wicked few eating
And drinking to empty of the masses’ brook.

Don’t be angry and just sit
Wishing someone else take notice
Of the ignorant many
Being led astray by idle advice

Don’t start and stop
The noble cause of feeding the mind
With wisdom, knowledge and understanding
From whichever source that you can find

Don’t indulge the foolish jokes
That the world is round and much abound
But work your zeal and play the part
For the earth repays the diligent sower’s ground.

Don’t pray and doubt
That life will and remain the same
But be ye strong within and without
Your unyielding Faith will bring you through.

(C) JAZZKURIA

Flossmode

The enthralling tale of Jimmy and the gang - PART 1 AND 2

* names (Jimmy and collymore) have been changed to conceal the true identity of, otherwise, flecked characters whose factual reputation has already been compromised.

After much deliberation, *Jimmy gave in. For those who knew Jimmy, this was akin to the second coming of the Messiah. Sheer impossibility. Hitler would have been a vicar before jimmy took a change of heart. That is how hard a stand jimmy had taken on the gang’s incessant quandary. The gravit rain had weighed him in. The elastic limit of his human heart had reached its breaking point. Finally, like a stroke of magic, if not a miracle, jimmy had been touched by the needs of his self- despised lot. He had too. He had tried every trick known to man to flout this gang but their persistence had paid off albeit at a heavy cost. The rich ego of jimmy. He reasoned that for the machine to work, the cogs had to be in place and working. The yin has its yang and a change of heart was the only joker left to be played. And so Jimmy played the last card.

You see , behind the pin striped suits, pointed shoes and the phlegmatic demeanour, inside jimmy lies a man who would put his life on the line to zealously abscond any exorbitant emotional responsibilities for a people well in their prime especially in a third world setting where cases of manager-fights-for-your-rights clarion calls are a norm. The man was taught and cultured differently. Go to elementary school, learn to swim or play a musical instrument, imbibe your way through junior high, cheat your way in campus....but graduate and finally get a formal job and aim high buddy. Thats it! This he did and in time through his political connects, he had reached his pinnacle. Fulfilled his daddy’s wish and become a village hero. Jimmy had become a boss! The kaffir, top honcho, cahuna, you name it at his workplace in his motherland. Well according to the version of his gospel. But the saddest part, you ask? he was the boss of an ignorantly haute riche’ mortals who had entered their sophomore year of their employment with a pristine zeal for a mass upgrade in no uncertain terms. They had worn out their rookie year excitements of a first salary, owned more than 2 pairs of pants, been to movie premiers, feasted on game meat, maxed out their credit cards, the works. Now they were desperate and they needed a punch bag to vent. So jimmy was stuck in between. A hero in the village but a villain at work. Jimmy had worked the “motivational” hope of zion train to the gang but to no avail. They had known better. The scales had fallen from their eyes.The carrot had been dangled until it withered out. Jimmy, in his haste, to impress his ghostly superior, *collymore, he had forgotten the most important lesson; Know when to duck ém!

Collymore was a master of “the ducking craft”. He had perfected it like the precision of a matador’s lance to the raging bull, and there was talk that he had patented it. Promise, Hype and...Duck! By all means and schemes possible. Feign imaginary calls, use VIP lifts, excessive midnight texts for figures,tipping security guards to “deny” your presence anytime you are in the vicinity, never answer calls and the best, be in endless meetings. Well, credit to Jimmy, he had Jimmy employed meticulously the meeting trick but the downside was that his office was the gang’s epicentre. He had done all he could. He had supplied occasional hard drinks to opium the masses at the team building events, endured heaving cases in his car, hidden behind his 21’inch computer under the sliding chair, cast occasional glances at the corner of his eyes, black forested the damn feminine community, avoided the morning trance-inducing chants. Everything. His deputies were novices and docile in nature. One thought leadership required literal positioning of staff according to their height and age in the office to improve performance and the other one, well, hard as it is to say this, he actually strolled aimlessly pondering on how he will reinvent the moppet, sometimes bursting unconsciously “eureka”!!”eureka”!!. Hopeless. Funny thing, they were proud of their positions. So Jimmy gave in. His only condition? Go,Go ,Go....but further now, GO BEYOND HITHER!! jimmy had given in, but only he knew.


PART 2 - THE FINAL CHAPTER

Disclaimer: The author appreciates the full import of his narration and wishes to state that far from being informed by antipathy, he be au fait with the need to laugh at ourselves as the biggest statement to our reconciliation with our past and its marvelous deeds.

And so like all fabled legends, Jimmy and the gang did roll into the sunset, the details of which will best be put in context at the article’s end. …but to further appreciate the dynamics of the team and its intrigues, jimmy’s brief did not end with his immediate team. I aver to you ladies and gentlemen, the aptly named bunch of hippies; “Outbound”. A troupe comprising of 9 anomalous members that were a product of a generous whim auspiced as “diversifying portfolio” in the ever growing card business. This was a dream team with a pipe dream- to be their own managers!! Now, these bunch were way, waaaaay in over their heads with this one. They would create their own leads, call 10 clients in 8 hours, do their own version of MI and send it to an arbitrarily nondescript call centre manager at the tail end of the business day and anxiously wait for their emoluments on the famed 24th.Wow! Idyllic Imagination even by Hollywood standards!! This was their lot.

To be fair to Jimmy, He inherited this team, never was sure what they did, couldn’t care less what their names were and he never really owned them. Who did? He, however, did accommodate them and especially when his gang’s work needed an extra pair of hands, he would pluck a few from the outbound to get the job done. On occasions, when hosting a special delegate from upper echelons, who would come to pay a courtesy call to the Tele-centre, Jimmy would let his guest surmise that it was “all his team” if only it would auger well to his seniors and give him that odd pat on the back for increased responsibility; read B5.If the guest pressed for details, He would disassociate himself as the Levite priests would Samaritan lepers and beckoned one of the Outbounders cook themselves in their own oil by explaining themselves and their damned origins.

So this cohabitation endured time and served its logic; under the radar they did their business. “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” being the mantra the outbounders held and would fervently fight to the nail any suggestions that they were a non-existential busy-body entity. This worked well for them. They forged genuine camaraderie and it seemed their utopian job was God- sent; No performance threats, No supervisors, No Red and Green Whiteboard awash with sales targets; No, None of that. For a year and a half they glided by and each held unto his own up until the ill-timed mass upgrade jitters started doing rounds in Jimmy’s gang. This was to be followed up by key management reps coming over to assure the gang that their cries had been heard and it was only a matter of when and not if that the upgrade will be effected.”Carrot and stick ‘em” trick would always work on the gang and by now fraternities and sororities between the teams had enmeshed and the revolution had caught up. The outbounders, for some outlandish reason, introspected themselves, re-evaluated their worth and alarm bells began to ring. They wanted in! Well, a few of them .But the few were the noisiest and the sluggards; but they wanted in. Everything! Plus a renewed contract that had the term
“ PERMANENT” in BOLD, NEW TIMES ROMAN AND FONT 28 !!!!!!

Fully inscribed and watermarked therein. The scales had fallen from their eyes. The botched election and its economical implications had adversely hit them too. They wanted recognition, assimilation, well defined TOR’s (Terms of Reference), a visible manager, their own tea and tea bags, flat screen computers and a group hug. Was that a lot to ask for? They had grown tired too. Hell, they had exhausted their leads within a month of their employment and its human nature, after misusing their post paid lines calling their lovers, some calling their maids to find out how many times the baby had sneezed, etc to have conscience stricken hearts. So next, as Maslow’s hierarchical needs established, so too they had moved to their next phase and sought significance. Anyway, anyhow did they seek it. But they had forgotten one simple law. The law of cause and effect.


Meanwhile, Jimmy’s gang push for an upgrade did materialize…yes, they were locationally upgraded. But this was done strategically. To weed out the atwolis, karuas and khalwales that agitated the well meaning, easy going folk. To all corners were they dispersed like the biblical Israelites. Time heals all wounds and it did. To some, motherhood brought solace, to some, greener pastures were sought, the entrepreneurial spirits started businesses while exploiting the company resources to the hilt, while some changed stations. A couple enriched and contributed mass profits to aid Mr. Gerald Mahinda’s firm and PD leading to his promotion to South Africa. Others coped and hoped all the while keeping Mwangemi busy round the clock.
Collymore’s lucky streak came to an end and was eventually found out. His 2 decades of service went down without a plaque of recognition. His dues massively deducted for owed loan repayments and maxed out cards, his repute was in tatters, no ex-gratia to boot, and his glowing embers of a distinguished career could not be rekindled even with the astrological Maya Indians and was last heard and seen attending to his copious phone calls. Old habits do indeed die hard. He’s yet to issue a statement explaining his take of things but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. As for Jimmy, his whereabouts remain unknown to the author. Tele-centre was rejuvenated and re-injected with new faces from Og Mandino’s “Greatest salesmen of the world” {pun intended} to cog that tireless machine and it still strives on. Its 5th year anniversary will be observed soon. And please don’t ask where new leads come from. The business still runs, doesn’t it? Take a toss and go get yourself a Kilele brand yoghurt!
Outbound lived up to its name. Literally. According to Collins English Dictionary ,Definition: Adj. 1 .Outbound – “that is going out or leaving”; “leaving a place or a position”; “an outgoing steamship”. The third definition particularly resonates. The team hounded itself out of existence. Its members now ply new trades .Some went to try new careers in pharmaceutical fields, others to NGO’s, others started Children homes and others lucky enough were accommodated to the larger costumer service team at the head quarters and their subservience was bought without a whimper. Sad, but that’s life. Now we know why God attaches so much importance to a name.
Lay-offs and forced resignations would soon be effected to “deadwood” top management in the name of “human resource restructuring processes” and as is the case, brown A4 envelopes were back in vogue. The wise ones who had got wind of it joined forces with the competition but a huge chunk went the way of Captain Edward John Smith and sank down in pride and full regalia. The toothless union still enjoys its benefits and exists to serve its masters and not its members.
As for the acts of Card centre, its offshoots and other events of jimmy’s reign, his gizmo-obsessed juniors, are they not written and recorded in the annotations and hearts of its victims, collaborators, and its faithful servants? Jimmy’s reign lasted for a time and half a time and there are no official records about his successor.

The significance of choice

Every December holiday, when I was a kid, my folks would bundle us into the car and make the trip upcountry as it was customary back then. I recall every evening when grandma would have us sit round her three legged stool and narrate to us different stories. The one that hangs to memory the most is one of how the monkey is a staple diet in the asian, far east regions of our globe. To trap it, the villagers would create a sizable hole in a coconut fruit and stuff rice inside. The hole is made just small and wide to accommodate the monkey’s paw. Now, the trick is, that once the monkey has reached inside the fruit and grabbed a handful of rice, it cannot lose the coconut unless it lets go of the rice inside. To the folly of the animal, it makes endless gongs as it tries to make up a tree with its paw still inside the fruit and these sounds are the cue for the villagers. Believe it or not, the villagers will grab it, as casually as a walk in the park, since the monkey will make empty noises, fidgeting around the tree while it has a choice of letting go and fleeing the imminent danger. Grandma would let us run out of our laughter and gaze intently into our watery eyes and tell us the lesson within; always know you have a choice. And the matter of choice has stuck, if not haunted me since. Choice, as free will, is at the disposal of the every human being. It is something God gives us freely.

God will motivate us, encourage us, move the heavens and the mountains for us, rebuke us, send messages through diligent messengers just to get us to make only and just only one thing; make a choice. A choice to choose life, a choice to be happy, a choice to begin to love, to be faithful, to think positively, to live healthy, to change attitudes, to be different; to change for the better. He constantly calls us to make more than a choice but a daily choice. The interesting thing about all this is that it is never that easy. It breaks a sweat but the fruits are guaranteed. Pain is always part of the process. You see, It costs us something to get something. Mediocrity has never been bestowed with recognition and as the Swahili saying advises “ mtaka cha mvunguni sharti ainame”.

The conscious and deliberate effort depends on our ability to make a choice. The choice that we make is influenced by a variety of factors which may include our genetic predisposition, the family influence which I call the social conditioning, the famous peer pressure among others. All these shape our way of thinking trickling down to our ingrained habits which forms our actions and ultimately our character. The good thing I have learnt is that nothing is ever etched on stone that we shall always be and remain as we are. Like the light to the day, life is guaranteed to change. For the mighty and for the lowly. For all. When this happens, our response to it will impact us either positively or negatively depending on the choices we make. Every day, every hour, every minute. Constantly.

In the book, Conversations with God, author Neale Donald Walsch, seems to be at odds as to why he has never gotten it right every time he wishes to come to terms on how to get his life moving without much stagnation. As the dialogue goes ”God”, interestingly, keeps it simple with the truth:”Life is an ongoing process of creation. You are creating your reality every single minute. Remember that every decision you make should be the choice you choose to make tomorrow and that is the secret of all masters. They keep choosing the same thing over and over again until their will is made manifest in their reality”. I like that. That if I choose to be physically fit, I should stick to the fitness plan every time and the constancy of it should see me reach my desired goal. This school of thought gives me the responsibility to be in charge of my own life choices and decisions and to cease blaming others or circumstances for the woe in my life. Every situation becomes what I decide it to be. The idea that I am what I think of myself as is thought provoking.






It is Our Lord Jesus Christ who said that “As a man thinketh so is He” and now I see. I choose what I will think about, what to say, whom to relate to, what to read, what to watch, etc as all this constitute to who I am. I now understand that I am inherently equipped with everything I need to make that choice that will make me be me. A choice to believe in a God to whom nothing is impossible. A choice to trust in Him and in my ability. A choice to make the first step in faith and see what happens. A choice to see myself in a new light; that I am a special person with boundless limits to explore. A being wonderfully and fearfully made. All in all, it all begins with a choice. What’s yours?

HOPE

One of my favourite quotes is by Vaclav Havel who quipped “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turn out” and that brings me to the subject that evokes much fascination and adoration if nothing less than being idolised by what it represents; HOPE. Personally, I love to think of hope as a reverent thing. An attribute that the Deity blesses his loving creation with. Even to the most lackadaisical pessimist and cynic, deep inside themselves lies a ray of hope. You see, Hope has stood the test of time and evidently it is something that always gives and never takes away. Hope has held the testimony that it never fails in its promise and whenever summoned, it works up with zeal and most importantly, its suffice to say we can look forward to it with desire and reasonable confidence.

I am amazed by the audacity of hope. It doesn’t segregate and always beckons at everyone’s heart when all around seem dark. Its soft, soothing voice infuses into our soul everytime we’re engulfed with the hurt and trials of life. In my young life, I have come to appreciate and encourage the idea of Hope as a resonant melody of my frail heart. I have discovered that the myopic nature of my human reasoning and interpretations of my life huddles cannot be easily overcome without hope for a better tomorrow, a better world and, indeed, a better me. I have looked far and beyond and saw that the greatest and the wisest of people to have walked on this earth had hope as a constant chaperone on their fickle, treacherous journey to redemption.

Among my idolised heroes of the modern day and also a living legend, Nelson Mandela, while facing a grim future of life behind bars for his noble cause of a better South Africa and was quoted in his famous speech before being sentenced to life imprisonment that “..During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I HOPE to live for and to achieve”. We all know how that story turned up to be. The fight for a liberated Kenya was hinged on hope. Tales of the Holocaust are told of how the Jewish captives, while being led to the gas chambers by the Nazis, sang songs of Hope as they resigned to the fact that though mortal men could kill their physical bodies, their souls had a hope to rest in the realm of the Heavenlies with the Creator. It is hope that the Lord’s apostles persevered and faithfully spread the gospel. For in hope, we retire at night after a long day to rest and look forward to a brighter day tomorrow. That we read, sing, relate and work. We do it for Hope.

Hope is not just a word, but it can mean many things. it is an emotion at best, at worst ...it is lost. Caleb Colton, an English cleric, painter and writer, while going through a tumultuous period in his life, wrote that “ Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest Ore is produced from the hottest furnace and brightest thunderbolt is the one elicited from the darkest room” And I would add a room full of Hope. For though hope wears different hats to different people, its inherent virtue is always the same. It makes up the substance of things that Faith is built upon. For the Bible puts it that ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not yet seen” Hebrews 11: 1. Hope, therefore, is a key ingredient of the heavenly currency ; Faith. But I won’t digress with my endless superlatives about Faith. Maybe another time. In short as I conclude, I offer it to you that among the triumvirate of God’s gifts for our daily sustenance is hope. 1 Corinthians 13: 13 “And now these three remain; Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love” .As such, I will totally fall short of the point if I do not say that Hope by itself, though sufficient, is diligently espoused to Faith and Love. Hope therefore and do not give up.

trials of an eternal optimist

Where is my world coming to? I wonder if there is anyone out there who can lay claim to having sublime peace without a single thought of worry for the passing day?
I sit and marvel on the turn of events facing us as a people; The rising cost of living, widespread insecurity , stark contrast the rich and the poor, Unending vitriol from a befuddled citizenry to its equally inept government, a fraught economy, colossal job losses and much more.

You see, lately I have been a victim of my own preaching. I pride myself in being an eternal optimist; am positive thinker; a man who always sees the glass as half full. A mastermind of sorts that is kept on a strict diet of any motivational materials available. Given my way, I’d even challenge the need for darkness and night before its loving creator . Such is my fascination with the Good, The Brighter and the Happy. For instance, In The case of a headache, I was taught that I just needs to re-arrange and focus my body mechanism to align the energies that are out of sync to help bring back the system balance back on track and as such the “pain” is diminished via the power of the positive –thought aligned mind. Wow! But here’s the thing, I’m Broke, lonely and my otherwise decent world is falling apart. I’ve sank into the abysmal depths of nothingness; At least to the very best of my knowledge .All my sustained efforts to summon my valued beliefs and teachings on positive thinking and eternal optimism have recently failed. Resultantly, I find myself silently cursing the system, laying blame on all the women, watching endless trash tv and talking in my sleep. I diligently avoid my clique of new thought converts preferring the quiet alleys occasioned with the usual commoners. I tuck my cherished collection of motivational cds and books and glossy magazines are duly displayed and religiously read. In turn, I’ve become an “IF” and not a “WHEN” person. “I WISH” instead of an “I WILL” person. Deterioration at its best. So is there help for me? Has it all been a waste of my time? Is this the real me? I wonder as I silently envy those who are constantly on the diligent path of positive re-affirmation while here I am huddling at the pavement of the beaten path of obscurity.

No! No! Not really! My mind seems to refuse .Its just a phase. Like any well-intentioned person out there. I am sure someone can identify with me. All is not gloom. The wave has hit its trough but in time I’ll ride to its crest. The cast shadow just means there is light somewhere. My song has just hit its bridge and it’s about to turn an octave higher. Beep! Beep! Beep! Goes my pulse and that only mean one thing; that I am alive and that’s a good thing, right?

So I guess I’ll appreciate the moment, treasure the good and try to understand the underlying meaning of the bad. For every yin there is a yang. Try to be a little easy on myself and kind to others out there trying their level best. I suppose I’m still human. Here’s the deal, How come those so called Motivational gurus and thinkers don’t front themselves and say, Hey look. I’m really having it rough and I am on the brink of giving up .I am not asking for much but just for them to only appreaciate the moment when their guards are down with the trials of life and not wait until all is well and the situation is faithfully triumphed then we see them on tv, in seminars and their books paraded among the best seller lists .So pardon my manners, I am just making an honest admission and admitting to my inadequacies for the whole world in real time that yes, I’m having it crazy right now but all the while being reminded of a verse from the wisest man to have lived which says “There’s a time for everything.A time to weep and a time to dance..” and right now; sob, sob sob! You get my drift.

(c) jazzkuria

Safari Sevens pictureque

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The silence of wonder!

Take the sun
The imposing, bright tablet in the sky
Which,at the break of dawn, slides up n shines up on high
Think about it
In all its glorious splendour
And in silence
It stands above in purpose
Then the world is lit up with this cosmic magnificence

Take the rainbow
The tapestry of wonder that splashes across the wet sky
Flaunting its beauty and in an instant it goes back to hiding
Think about it
In all its glorious splendour
It adorns our distant horizon
And men have since been ridiculously smitten!


Take the stars
The white diamonds scattered across the velvet sky
Glittering and shimmering in the dark of the night
Think about it
This glorious splendour
And in silence
They twinkle their way into our hearts n fascinates our imagination with their charm.

Take our Father God
Who, before the beginning began had been and lived to see the end and IS after that
He, who holds the universe by His breath and the seas in the cusp of His hand
Would go into Himself to send unto us His beloved Son
Think about it
A chastisement of our sins ; A living sacrifice for our redemption
The Living Word
And now we have a hope and a future

Take me n you
An image of unspeakable and phenomenal beauty
Knitted perfectly in the mother's womb with no idea, no clue n here we are
Think about it
An absolute wonder
Dont say a word
Some things are better said in silence!


Take the following
The birds of the air, the wild animals, the wind that slaps ur face, the rivers and the mountains, the green of the fodder, the delicate white snowflake, the yin and the yang, the strange time-space continuum, the joy of poetry, the rains falling from the heavens, the angels
Think about all that...
Mystery inexplainable
Without words
The silence of wonder!

©jazzkuria
052209

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EXPOSED!

I just sit
Waiting and then pray
I then repeat
Telling myself its gonna be okay
I try to sing
But the melody does not make any sense
I bring myself back to myself
Summoning my innermost faith
Faith in God
I then lay down and sleep
Whilst trying very hard not to weep


Still..,Mine is a decent story
In comparison to others out there
With dreams gone awry
I see myself with victory
Maybe today; Maybe tomorrow
But I’m still drawn to sorrow

For I am wiser now
Free to live my truth
And let Love be
In Jesus will I trust
The lasting Peace for my days
I will talk
Of nothing other than Hope
In a world where gloom is in bloom
I will try to be..
An extension of His Light
A Joy to the mad world
A smile to the constant frowns
Warmth to the cold reality
Love to the resident evil
Bounty when scarce is commonplace
A Faithful Keeper
A solution than a problem
Colours of the rainbow
A part of Heaven down here
Just be me...
For The world could use something different at least!


jazzkuria
-END-

Love's The Greatest

'And now abideth faith,hope,love; but the greatest of these is LOVE'.1 corithians 13:13. Love-'Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoices nt in iniquity but in the truth.'
Love- 'bears all things, believe all things, hopes all things, endures all things'
Love recognises the reality of the pain, bt beyond the pain love sees a victory and a triumph.love is a creative force that can bring good out of evil,even redemptive power out of a cross,- love never faileth' ..charles allen.

LOVE IS ALL THERE IS- The series

Love is a very powerful emotion
It is often the most confused and controversial
Usually spoken of being blind;
Love answers and seldom questions
It is in the heart of the beholder
The DNA of His Awesome Wonder
It defines most of our actions and Inactions.
It makes us breathe; Jump; Shout; Sing; Hustle; Makes us want to lie down..Just makes us move.
It inspires; makes us perspire and never expires!
It lifts us up when we are down
It is always deep within when all else is gloom
Asking us to summon it constantly and consistently
For Love Is ALL There Is!
Love is the warmth in the Smile
Love is the crisp of the morning breeze
Love is the soothing of a comforting hug
Love is the melody of the bird perched next to your bedroom window
Love is the friendship we never want to loose
The kiss from a loved one.
Love is the contentment of a Peaceful heart
Love is the reaction of a prayer answered
Love is the serene of ocean waves;
The rays of the setting sun;
The snowballs in winter;
The Lion playing with her cubs;
The rain pouring from the heavens;
The tree that gives us the shade;
The song we dance ourselves loose;
The footprints we etch along the sandy beach;
It is the air that sweeps our face;
It is in the clothes we wear;
The red in the roses;
The Ham in the Burger;
It is The All In All!
God Is Love!
But why is Love not pronounced and announced everyday? Every time? At all moments?
Why is it so easy to see hurt? Pain? Jealousy? Anger? Envy? Ugliness? Yea, why do these come so easy for us? Why do they entangle us with such cheap effort? Exactly, Where Is The Love?
Thats the journey I wish we begin from here..
The Journey that Love Is All There Is.
The Journey Of everything Love.
Me and You.Love!
It starts with just one person
It starts with ME!
Care to Join?

-END-
Jazzkuria (c)

THE PROPOSITON

My good friend,Gichingiri Kuria, says the “the mind is a terrible thing”
His paradoxical interpretation is obviously objectionable but i respect his perspective of our human psyche.I wont go to the extent of how abysmal or otherwise our minds can get but if there is anything I would tell my mind is.............

(Dear Jazz’s Mind...)

Never dwell on a thought that does not represent Who I Am.
Please never give flesh to the skeletal image of conformity
Never breathe life into the nostrils of subjectivity
Not even once make believe the captivity of negativity
To never limit its Potential! Especially this to never do Ever!!
I would beseech my mind to filter out representations of any manner that read mediocrity
Fight with all its might any contradicting thought of Who I Am at just its first sight
I would plead it to remain in a simple state of Faith
To constantly bring to itself meditations closely held within my spirit definations of True Me
That I am the Promise Of God
The evidence of His Love
Fearfully and Wonderfully made
The Head and not the tail
The Victor and Not the victim
That I can do ALL things through Christ who Strengthens me
The conceptualized idea of God’s brilliance
The Product of God’s supreme creativity
Yea, all these and more
I would beg for it to retain within its bank everything that is Hope , Love , Joy , Peace....
I would humbly recommend that it make exercise a daily habit..To Read! Read and Read some more!
I’d seek that it inquires for more Wisdom , Knowledge and Understanding
This should be its task; routine; commitment.....Its Purpose
But thats just me, I don’t know what it makes of all this!

Yours faithfully,
(C) jazzkuria